The year in review. ... 2023

The year in review. ... 2023

 

Welcome, 2024! With the coming of the New Year, we have 366 new opportunities to create unforgettable and fantastic moments! But truly memorable things also took place in 2023; shall we take a look back?

A commitment to continuous quality and the relentless search for customer satisfaction are PortoBay's guiding principles, which makes it essential to renew our products. That is why we invest annually in improving and upgrading our hotels and restaurants.

 

A sparkling Cliff Bay

The Cliff Bay hotel in Funchal had its lower lobby and the Cliff Bar renovated. The ample lower lobby now has more contemporary decor giving it a lighter and brighter feel, after a complete overhaul of the carpeting, furniture and upholstery. This visual makeover extends to the interior patio of Le Cliff Bar, which also boasts new items of furniture in a setting of abundant plant life, subtly enhanced by the lighting design.
These renovations complement others carried out recently in some categories of room, restaurants and other common areas of the hotel.
We will soon have news about the Rose Garden restaurant, so stay tuned!

Refurbished rooms at The Residence

The Residence hotel, part of the Vila Porto Mare Resort on the island of Madeira, has had its rooms refurbished! They now offer a more contemporary, brighter decor, with a change of carpet, textile materials and linings. There has been a focus on improving the guest experience, so functional aspects have been upgraded, such as replacing the microwaves and refrigerators with newer models.

A thorough renovation at the PortoBay Serra Golf

With a thorough renovation of its decor, the PortoBay Serra Golf hotel, on the island of Madeira, now has a brighter and more contemporary feel!
The makeover starts right at the entrance of the hotel, with new decor in the lobby and reception area, and light, modern, comfortable furniture to enhance the rural experience, where wood and warm textiles come to the fore.
The Standard rooms have also been refurbished and now have new decor that further enhances the relaxing and calming character conveyed by a hotel located in the midst of nature.

Renovations at the 5-star L’Hotel PortoBay São Paulo

Greater comfort and elegance are now part of the experience at L’Hotel PortoBay São Paulo, thanks to the complete refurbishment of all the rooms.
The 86 rooms at this 5-star hotel, located next to Avenida Paulista, now feature decor inspired by European boutique hotels. The rooms offer a contemporary environment without losing their classic essence, which is the trademark of the L’Hotel PortoBay São Paulo.

 

The change of furniture, wall linings and works of art all enhance the contemporary nature of the decor. The lighting in the apartments has also been optimised to provide more comfort and an inviting atmosphere. The focus was on improving the guest experience. Functional aspects have been enhanced, such as installing more electrical outlets and smart TVs with larger screens and Netflix access. We have replaced the minibars with a newer and quieter model, and upgraded the wi-fi network.

 

We have taken advantage of the upgrade to create three new room categories: Deluxe King and Deluxe Twin, located on the upper floors of the hotel, offer additional services and are equipped with a Nespresso coffee machine. The third category created is the Junior Suite with a Balcony, which has a large and welcoming room.

The PortoBay Prestige loyalty programme is changing!

 

As well as a new image, this programme now offers its members more flexibility and convenience!

The main new features include the creation of a new maximum level (Prestige Platinum) and the renaming of the Prestige Blue level to Prestige Silver.

Progress in the Prestige programme will now be based not only on your number of stays, but also on the number of nights spent in a PortoBay hotel. Experience Points (XP) are awarded as follows; each stay is worth 6XPs and each night is worth 1XP.

The Prestige card is now digital and accessible through the new PortoBay App. This is part of the group's sustainability policy, and will produce savings of around 300,000 cards over 5 years.

On the PortoBay App, guests will also have access to their Prestige member account and will be able to consult information such as their XP balance, pre-check-in form, benefits, offers and other features.

Personalised communication to guests about changes to the Prestige programme is provided in phases according to their arrival date. You’ll be getting all the details soon!

This is the first transformation phase of the Prestige programme. Look out for more news about this in 2024.

There was no shortage of good news in terms of gastronomy and flavours either! Two new restaurants with innovative concepts and plentiful gastronomic events highlighted our chefs' culinary specialities and showcased the creations of famous guest chefs.

 

Horta, the new restaurant offering a healthy comfort food concept

The HORTA restaurant is the latest gastronomic venture from PortoBay Hotels & Resorts in Funchal. The Horta is part of the Vila Porto Mare resort, next door to the well-known Il Basilico restaurant, and offers a gastronomic concept of healthy and comfort cuisine through a menu full of healthy, innovative dishes with surprising flavours. There is a clear preference for local ingredients, most of which come from the PortoBay allotment, an area of around 5000 m2 in the upper area of Funchal.

Asian flavours are the focus of the new Avista Asia restaurant

Avista Asia was a new gastronomic venue from the PortoBay group in Funchal, on the island of Madeira, which opened in 2023. Next to the well-known Avista, the Avista Asia restaurant provides a gastronomic experience that offers a fusion between Asian and European cuisine with a touch of the culinary tradition of the island of Madeira.

Located on the upper floor of a centuries-old house, this exclusive eatery is set in dreamlike surroundings, where the sky and the Atlantic Ocean take centre stage.

5 Duets on the island of Madeira

Duetos is the latest gastronomic event at PortoBay Hotels & Resorts. These events take place in the group's restaurants and are the work of two voices or four hands: the resident Chef and a guest Chef. The result is a gastronomic concoction between products and ingredients from the restaurants' places of origin. In these five Duets we welcome chefs Julien Montbabut, Rodrigo de La Calle, Rodrigo Castelo, Tiago Santos and Pedro Pena Bastos.

 

 

More multimedia and video

We always want to bring our guests closer to the PortoBay experience. Therefore, we have been increasingly investing in visual and multimedia aspects such as video and photography.
This year we introduced room videos for many of our hotels, allowing potential guests to view the rooms on our website's booking portal. This enables the customer to understand which room best suits their needs and what they require for a memorable holiday!
We have also created a video for the 2 Michelin-starred Il Gallo d’Oro restaurant, made another video about the Avista and Avista Asia restaurants, and a new PortoBay Experiences video focusing on Christmas and the New Year!

Collection of cigarette butts to mark Earth Week

For the first time, PortoBay marked Planet Earth Week and wanted to make its contribution by organising a cigarette butt collection in the various cities where the Group is located in Portugal: Lisbon, Porto, the Algarve and the island of Madeira.
The collection was a success! Around 70 colleagues of the Group took part in the initiative and made the streets of their cities cleaner in the areas around each hotel.
In total, we collected over 74,000 cigarette butts and set the tone for next year to create another initiative that will honour our planet!

We received another 104 awards

We have been awarded national and international prizes for excellence in hospitality and gastronomy. Most of these awards were given based on feedback from our customers! Thank you for acknowledging our efforts and for choosing PortoBay!

 

 

HOPE delivered another 75,000 euros

This year, HOPE raised €75,742, bringing the total over 11 years to €615,000.
The majority of our guests contributed, and 706 made an extra donation above the amount requested. It is also thanks to these contributions that we have exceeded the expected fund-raising figures year after year. You will be pleased to hear that the institutions we have helped as part of this campaign are very grateful and will continue to work with commitment and dedication for the well-being of their users.
Throughout November, our teams visited institutions all over Portugal and experienced first-hand the difficulties and needs of each of the causes we support.